Project: Lian Li Revival

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frank6150

n00b
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
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This would be my first project I've really shared with anyone, I mostly just paint my cases and do little mods here and there just to keep me content. I figure it's about time I throw something out there. This won't be any kind of crazy modding like some of you guys do but it's more than I've tackled in a while.

Basically my plan is to mod an old PC60 that I've had laying around for longer than I can remember due to a failed window mod. Things didn't go so well so I tossed the case in the corner and worked on a few others but now I feel it's time to break it out again and give it another go. While I would like to throw all new hardware inside of it once completed, lack of funds seems to be holding me down so I'll transplant most of my stuff from my current case into the new one and add a few new HDD's.

My current specs:
- P4 3.2ghz
- Soyo P4I875P (I hate this MB, a new one may be in order)
- 1gb Corsair XMS PC3700
- ATI Raedon 9800 Pro 256mb
- SB Audigy 2
- Plextor 8x DVD-R
- Thermaltake crappy fanless CPU cooler
- X-Connect 500w PSU (might replace this as well)
- WD 200gb, 120gb, 80gb HDD's (They will be moved outside the case)

What I'm adding:
- Aero Cool HT-101 w/ 2 slim fans
- WD 36gb Raptor, 300gb SATA
- 3 External enclosures for the removed HDD's
- Lot's of love :)

A little rundown of what I'm going to try and accomplish (I'm sure something will be added or removed):
- Remove floppy & HDD trays (Not going to return)
- Relocate speaker
- Powdercoat the inside of the case (By myself!)
- Various painting of the rest of the case
- Make custom ducts for the front fans
- Do some things with plexi and mesh
- Make a new window
- Run new power cables for everything
- Replace the power button
- Replace the LED's
- Add some new LED's
- Stealth the DVD drive and relocate the eject button

Who knows what else I'll get myself into once I dig deep enough into the case. Might as well get started!

The victim:
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Yummy new drives:
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New cpu cooler:
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First thing to do was strip the case down and try to find a temporary home for all the stuff. I'm pretty damn good at losing stuff so I used these high tech storage devices :cool: .
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The bigger stuff is strewn across the floor in handy little piles. Organization is key.

Since the last time me and this case went round I completely ruined the side panel trying to do a tribal design in it so I figured this time I would do things a bit more simple and try to keep with the lines of the case. I like how there is nothing really fancy about it and it leave a lot of room to add most anything you want. Simple = better in my case cause I will fuck it up otherwise.

Best to face the deamon head on so I marked the side panel.
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Cuttin that beeyotch up!
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Last cut! Sweaty palms..
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It's really amazing how much better things turn out when you take your time and properly draw everything out and don't cut into it like a fool. My mistake the last time was rushing the cuts to get it done and it proved fatal to the panel. Didn't take much filing/sanding to deburr it and make it smooth. I cut a piece of clear plexi for the window and this is the finished product.
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I picked up some red and black plexi to use in the case along with some black mesh. The plan is to follow the line from the PS over to the bottom of the drive cage with the red and then cover it with the black mesh to conceal the red a bit. I wasn't into the idea of just doing the red by itself since most of the case interior will be flat black and I think it would stick out and look ugly. Plus the red has a pinkish look to it which doesn't help matters any.
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rough cutout done.
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After filing and sanding.
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Black mesh cutout to the same shape.
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Either the mesh over the red makes it look blurry in these pics or I had too much coffee and I've developed the shakes. :confused:
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I also cut out some mesh and plexi to replace the 3/12" bays since without the cage I can't pop the covers back on.
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So far so good. I haven't destroyed anything yet so I'm pretty happy about that. My biggest fear was the side panel so I ordered 2 of them before I started in case of failure.

Next up is the ducts for the 2 80mm fans in the front. Since they won't be cooling the HDD's I thought it would be better to channel the air up into the case to be pulled through the cpu cooler and out the back rather than just blow across the bottom. I came up with the idea of using 2 90 degree PVC elbows and cutting them around 45 degrees to send the air upward. These have proven to be a mighty pain in my ass.
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Rough idea of what I'm goin for. Still needs cut but you get the picture.
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To hold these beasts up I got 2 70mm to 80mm fan adapters and filed them down a little to fit into the PVC.
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I then used some plastic weld to seal them to the PVC and I will bolt them to the fans to stay in place. Looks mighty ugly right now.
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Now it's time to make the cuts. This really sucked. Was very hard to get them both straight since you are cutting a circle. Lot's of filing and sanding will follow.
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I got them about as even as I could. The cuts still aren't perfect and they require much sanding to get rid of the ugliness but that's for another day.
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More to follow soon! I'm too tired to attempt anymore sanding with those things.
 
Thanks for the support!

I got the mesh from performance-pcs, it's A.C. ryan stuff. I like it better than the modders mesh since it doesn't have the oily crap on it. Makes things easier for me.
 
Small update. I spent a lot of time filing the ducts to clean up the plastic weld, it wasn't the least bit fun. At least now it looks presentable. I hit them with a quick coat of primer so I could see where I still needed to sand to smooth everything.

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I decided to do a quick mock up to see how they fit with the fans. What I noticed was that even though I filed them to death there were still small imperfections that I don't think any amount of work would remove. So I came up with the idea to cut two strips of plexi and bend them to cover the corners to give a more finished look. I plan to paint the plexi copper since it should go well with the black and set it off a bit.

I like the way it's turning out so far but I ran into a snag with the test fit. Seems I need to sand down the sides more cause the ducts are too big to fit in the space and they push each other apart. These things are turning into a nightmare!

Here they are with the plexi taped in place to see how it looks. Will look much better once everything is painted. They fit inside but barely.
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As you can see I have more work ahead of me to get them to sit flush with each other.
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Back to the garage I go... :mad:
 
Looks interesting, i have a pc6085 which is very similar and have been considering giving it a revamp of late (its been collecting dust for a while dispite numerous motherboard and other hardware changes - in need of a complete stripping and sorting out). Good luck with it.
 
I have emerged from the garage! I think I am finally done with those ducts. Thank god.

I cut a piece of smoked plexi to put in the bottom of the case to contrast against the flat black that most of the interior will be. Forgot to take pictures while cutting but here is the end result.
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Next up I had to cut away part of the bottom of the MB tray due to the left duct hitting it. Wasn't anything important anyway so it worked out well.
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Everything fits so much better now that the ducts are the right size. I had to can the idea of the bent plexi since there just isn't enough room once the side panel is on. Really won't matter much, once everything is painted all should be well.
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Figured I would throw everything together real quick and take a few shots to see how I'm coming along. My picture taking skills suck ass...
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I broke down and ordered a new video card and MB. Picked up the x850xt and a descent Asus board. That together with a little OC'ing should get me by for some time before I have to bite the bullet and get the new chipset. I probably won't do that until the chips are somewhere in the high 4 gig range.

More to come soon.
 
slunge said:
Looks interesting, i have a pc6085 which is very similar and have been considering giving it a revamp of late (its been collecting dust for a while dispite numerous motherboard and other hardware changes - in need of a complete stripping and sorting out). Good luck with it.
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Mine sat for quite some time as well. I went through 3 other cases since I got it but there is just something about this one that keeps calling me back. I think it has a lot to do with the simple design of it, it isn't one of those flashy plastic junkers that are seen all over the place. Leaves a lot of room to do whatever you please and I really like that.
 
I'm loving the straight lines on that window. I dunno why, they just look awesome ^^,
 
mind if i ask what you used to cut the panel? and how you got it so damn nice looking?
 
hmm.. maybe i should open my eyes.. there's either a dremel or a dremel case in practically every picture.. but what did you use to file it down? just a block and sand paper?
 
Majin said:
Thats a really good Idea using the PVC pipes! :cool:
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I just couldn't find anything else that would work. I like how they turned out. They were a huge pain in the ass but in the end it was worth it. Probably put about 5 hours in them.

alex paik said:
mind if i ask what you used to cut the panel? and how you got it so damn nice looking?
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Mainly I used the Dremel, that's why you see it in most of the pics. I did use a jig saw on some of the plexi as well. I have better control with the dremel so that's why I chose it for the side panel. Really didn't take much filing or sanding, just enough so that I don't cut a finger off if I brush up against it. If you really take your time and don't rush the cuts they always work out well. Lots and lots of measuring too!

I use 60 to 400 grit sand paper and various files to get things smooth. Aluminum is very easy to sand down.
 
Gah! Sorry for the lack of updates, been waiting for my powdercoating supplies to show up so I could start finishing the case. Got a few things done but still much more to go.

I got the ducts and the Aerocool housing painted. Figured I would throw a little copper color into the mix to break up the black since it can get a bit boring.
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They turned out really nice but it sure was a pain getting the copper ring on there without it touching the black. Lot's of patience and tape. I also ran into a problem doing the housing. After I got the main shell painted I was waiting for it to dry and I walked past it and bumped it, it did a nose dive on the ground and the whole paint job got trashed. That added some fun sanding time to fix but it turned out fine.

I mentioned before that I was going to powdercoat the whole case rather than spraying it since it would hold up much better. I've never tried this before but I figured it would be a fun project and I would get to learn something new.

I picked up a used oven for cheap from a co-worker and bought the new Craftsmen powdercoat setup since it seemed like it was much easier to use than a standard kit places sell.
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It's a really nice setup Craftsmen came out with, no air required. The downside is the cup doesn't hold much powder and they still don't have their colors available so I picked some up from Eastwood Company. I was much better off anyway cause their sizes are 1.5oz. which doesn't cover jack and they are too expensive.

Once I got everything set up I realized the shell of the case won't fit inside the oven... That sucks. I can fit everything else but the frame in there so that's gonna have to be sprayed. No biggie I guess as long as the main parts will get covered and they would really be the areas prone to scratches.

I decided against doing a test piece since I never tried this before, figured go big or go home. I started with the motherboard tray. Got it all preped to be coated.
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Here it is with the powder on it waiting for the oven to warm up. So far so good! It was much easier than I thought it was going to be. Just like paint you can put the powder on too thick which will create high spots once baked so you gotta be careful. It's really neat the way it sticks to the metal that's grounded and nothing else.
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Right after baking while still cooling. No clue what that dot is in the picture, it's not on the part.
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Here is the finished product. I love it. Very scratch resistent and it turned out damn nice for my first try. Total time from start to finish was about 40 minutes. Can't beat that. As an bonus I also got some nifty black screws out of the deal. Didn't want the powder getting into the screw holes for the MB so I threw some in there. They might come in handy somewhere.
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Very messy. The wife is gonna kick my ass if I don't get all that friggin dust cleaned up. :eek:
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I did do one more piece, the blank side panel. I learned the hard way about putting powder on too thick and the piece turned out horrible. It's extremely bubbly looking and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to fix it. It's not a good lesson to have learned but I'm glad it wasn't on the panel with the window or I would have been pissed. I guess I'll try sanding it down and doing it over again but I'm not sure how hard it will be to do. I'll get a pic tomorrow as I was too angry to take one tonight. Wish me luck!
 
Awesome update. I love that. Homemade powdercoating. Learned something new. I`m going to have to try that sometime. How much was it to do that at home? Including paints and all that.
 
Fanatik said:
Awesome update. I love that. Homemade powdercoating. Learned something new. I`m going to have to try that sometime. How much was it to do that at home? Including paints and all that.
Click to expand...

I love learning something new.

-The gun was like $159.00 I believe.
-Got the oven for $40.00. Make sure you don't use one that you will ever cook in again.
- The powder is cheaper the more you buy but I got a 1/2lb. for $8.99. Used about half of it doing 2 pieces. Probably would have used much less had I not went crazy on the second piece.

It won't be cheaper than spraying to buy all the gear to do 1 or 2 parts. If you plan to use it a lot it's well worth it. If you break it down figure you need 1 can of primer, 1 of color, 1 of clear to do a part. Roughly $30.00. Plus add in all the time it takes for coats and drying, time is money. I spent like 40 minutes on a part and about $3.00 in powder. 25 minutes of that was baking in the oven. I plan to use it quite a bit.
 
Nice work on the painting mate! :D

Hope the whifey doesn't give you much of a telling off... ;) :p
 
Leeum said:
Nice work on the painting mate! :D

Hope the whifey doesn't give you much of a telling off... ;) :p
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Thank you! She was ok about it in the end. Just got some funny looks.


Volkswagen said:
Updates !
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Yes yes yes, I have not been keeping up on this. I am sorry. Been painting like a fool the last week getting all the parts ready. Everything is at work curing so I will take my camera with me tomorrow and get some shots. The lighting will probably suck cause they are shoved in a dark corner but I will do my best.
 
altec said:
Q. Wered yeah get the plexi?
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The first batch of plexi I got from performance-pcs. I was happy with all of it except for the red which turns out looking pink unless you hold it against anything but a black color. It's been driving me nuts so I ordered new stuff from usplastics. They have a much deeper red which should look 100 times better. It will also go well with the small parts of the case I will be painting with an anodized red color. The new plexi should be showing up in the next few days.
 
Wow, it's been a while. It's been terribly cold here lately so I haven't really been able to get much done out in the garage with the case. I finally broke down and bought a heater for out there to keep me from freezing to death and I managed to get a little more done.

Most all of the case is painted, there are still a couple real small pieces that need done but they aren't important yet. Everything is very dusty from sitting for a while so it might look a bit funky.
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I have a new love for slim fans. They still move a decent amount of air and are very quiet. I decided to use them on the cpu cooler since they didn't protude too much to get in the way of anything and I think they look better there than regular fans.
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Started putting the case back together. It's been a little too long since I took it apart and I'm having trouble remembering where all the little screws and stuff go.It's proving to be very tedious. I didn't get very far.
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While I was in the middle of wiring up the bulgin switch I manhandled it a bit too much and broke the resistor off. That sucks. Gotta go hit up Radioshack tomorrow to pick up a few spares and solder it again.
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To finish of the night I glued the mesh to the plexi piece that will replace where the 3.5 inch covers were. For now I'm going to use the red plexi I had already for this piece but I will use the new red stuff for the larger section. The new stuff is a very deep red and should look nice.
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Now that I have my trusty heater I should be back in action again so I should have something new in the next couple days.
 
damn, that powdercoating looks great. if i had $200, i'd try it :p

good luck getting the case back together, can't wait to see it finished.

the black knight always triumphs!
 
rogue_jedi said:
damn, that powdercoating looks great. if i had $200, i'd try it :p

good luck getting the case back together, can't wait to see it finished.

the black knight always triumphs!
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Thank you sir.
 
Back at it again in the friggin cold.

I finally grew the set I needed to do some soldering in my brandy new burner. Never tried anything like that before and it turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. I soldered onto the two pins needed to move the eject button and filled around them with liquid electrical tape. Hopefully I did it right cause it'll be a bitch trying to fix it. Luckily the wires fit perfectly out two holes in the bottom so I didn't have to drill any.
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Lot's of super glue to hold the wires down and make it look a little prettier.
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With that out of the way I can move on to stealthing the drive. I've done this a few times before but never on a Lian Li case. I had to cut a piece of plexi to fit inside of the drive cover to build it up enough to hook to the burner.
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Mission complete. I figured I would throw my raptor drive in there as well since it was in my way laying around. Still gotta sleeve the wire. There will be one more hdd going in there later, 300gb sata.
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I had to do something to let me remove the burner if need be and not have to worry about fishing wires back out of the case so I stuck some connectors on the ends to make it easy to move.
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to finish the night off I threw the psu in the case. It's a temporary one till I buy a new modular supply but who knows when that'll be.
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Thanks all. It's been hard finding the time to get this thing done due to the holidays. I only get a few hours a week to play around with it and half that time is spent figuring out what goes where anymore.
 
really nice result!...great way of explaining it also.

I remember spending hours in the plumbing dept of Home Depot trying to come up w/ something like u did. Glad to see that I'm not the only weird one!

Do u have any updated shots of the interior w/ everything in place?

Cheers
 
how did someone with your skill fail at a window mod? :eek:

looking great keep up the good work!
 
The copper/red/black I think is going to be a great color scheme.
 
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